Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories is an action role-playing video game developed by Jupiter and published by Square Enix for the Game Boy Advance. It acts as a bridge between the events of Kingdom Hearts and Kingdom Hearts II, following Sora’s journey alongside Donald Duck and Goofy as they search for their missing friends.
Chain of Memories, unlike the original Kingdom Hearts, utilises a card-based battle system. Players attack, cast magic, summon allies and use special abilities with cards. It adds a strategic element to the battles where players need to build and maintain their decks and decide which cards to play in a fight.
Most of the game is set in Castle Oblivion which is a mysterious location where Sora’s memories start to change as he goes up the many floors of the castle. Every floor is themed to a world based on a location from the Disney and Kingdom Hearts universes. Players can return to familiar locations, but for an entirely different adventure.
Key Features
Single Player
Offline
Controller Support
Cloud Save
Story Mode
Story
After the events of the first Kingdom Hearts, Sora, Donald and Goofy meet a mysterious figure who takes them to Castle Oblivion. Once inside, Sora finds out that the castle can manipulate memories.
Sora walks through the castle, many of the characters and places he knows seemingly tied to his memories. But the further he goes, the harder it is to tell which memories are real and which have been altered.
Sora encounters Organization XIII, a mysterious group that plays a major role in the Kingdom Hearts story. In the meantime, memories of Kairi and other important characters become more and more important.
The story is of friendship, memory, identity and the consequences of forgetting. Chain of Memories bridges the story between the first and second mainline Kingdom Hearts games.
Gameplay
Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories is a traditional RPG with a card-based battle system. Instead of choosing attacks from a traditional command menu, players choose from a custom deck of cards.
Each card has a number on it, which is used to determine how the cards interact in combat. Higher value cards can beat lower value cards and certain combinations allow players to perform powerful moves called Sleights.
Deck building is thus a major part of the experience. Players must choose their cards tactically according to their favoured play style and the expected difficulties.
Between battles, the player explores different rooms within Castle Oblivion. You kill enemies to get map cards which you use to build new rooms. Each map card features a different type of room, letting players determine the course of their adventure.
ROM